Moving Someplace Cheap in the World After College

Basically the title sums it up, would it be a good idea to move someplace cheap after college? I'm not thinking like rural Alabama cheap, but someplace where you can comfortably live off 1k or 2k a month like Asia.

Would it be a good idea right after college, seeing that I graduate in about 2-3 years? Has anyone ever done it and any suggestions?

My best friend who is also my IM partner would probably go with me since we've been friends/partners since highscool. Between the two of us the money wouldn't be so tough.

I'm just worried about moving back to the "real world" after. Like 10 years later I would have no idea how to work a 9-5 job or something.

I was just thinking of it last night so it's still just thought, but a fun one at that

depends on your income source. If you believe your internet income can be quite a long term and can make you that $2K/mo, then why not? If you are thinking of getting a job in asia itself, it might not be easy to earn that figure considering the big companies in asia are used to hire cheap employees as well (unless you live in more competitive place like Hong Kong, Korea, or Singapore though the competition is also very fierce)

but what do you mean 10 years later? 10 years later living cost in Asian countries would be way more expensive than nowadays. You do realize inflation rate in some countries here are way higher than in modern western countries, dont you? Unless if you are talking about 3rd world Asian countries like Laos or Cambodja

depends on your income source. If you believe your internet income can be quite a long term and can make you that $2K/mo, then why not? If you are thinking of getting a job in asia itself, it might not be easy to earn that figure considering the big companies in asia are used to hire cheap employees as well (unless you live in more competitive place like Hong Kong, Korea, or Singapore though the competition is also very fierce)

but what do you mean 10 years later? 10 years later living cost in Asian countries would be way more expensive than nowadays. You do realize inflation rate in some countries here are way higher than in modern western countries, dont you? Unless if you are talking about 3rd world Asian countries like Laos or Cambodja

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Well, 10 years later was just an expression. I actually wouldn't plan to live there for 10 years unless I really, really enjoyed it there.

It would just be interesting to go live in another part of the world for a year or so working solely on IM. I just see so many people who get out of college and then get a low-paying job, live with their parents, and wait a few years to get on their feet.

And I'm not thinking big like Hong Kong or Tokyo (those are actually some of the most expensive places in the world to live), but more along the lines of a small or medium sized town living close to the beach. What many people would call "the life"

I just want to try something different, although I'm sure if I get a good 9-5 job right out of college I could live on my own, very frugally though.

I've never really been a 9-5 job kind of person. Actually I've only had 1 job like that and the rest of the money I've made has come from IM, which I prefer much better

Why not? Especially if you are getting a degree that isn't a narrow focused or specialty degree (ie - engineer / doctor ). This time in your life is YOUR time... later you might be hitched w/ kids and then you might not even have this option. Just take it month by month... as you might not even like the country you 'selected' at first. I moved to Costa Rica after college and did jobs like being a horseback tour guide and light construction and finally some computer graphics work before moving back... You'll have to move around every 30 days or so unless you get a longer visa anyway... so instead of making a border run from Thailand to Cambodia and back to Thai... just plan on shifting over one country at a time... head to Vietnam... and then maybe fly to Laos and back to Bangkok... if things are going well, maybe go to India for a few week vacation or Burma. You can get burned out being in any of these places (especially when you are younger... moving around is a bit of trouble too, but you get to see and learn a lot) imho.
In my experience, living expenses are the least expensive in Vietnam - Thailand and Cambodia can be expensive with the crappy exchange rates you get in Thailand and Cambodia using the USD... it's not as 'cheap' as it used to be... regardless of how impoverished some may be - tourists get charged plenty. Not saying that cheapest is best... figure out a home base (central hub) and go from there.

Ironically, you may end up spending more while you are away, but chances are high that you'll have the time of your life.

depends on your income source. If you believe your internet income can be quite a long term and can make you that $2K/mo, then why not? If you are thinking of getting a job in asia itself, it might not be easy to earn that figure considering the big companies in asia are used to hire cheap employees as well (unless you live in more competitive place like Hong Kong, Korea, or Singapore though the competition is also very fierce)

but what do you mean 10 years later? 10 years later living cost in Asian countries would be way more expensive than nowadays. You do realize inflation rate in some countries here are way higher than in modern western countries, dont you? Unless if you are talking about 3rd world Asian countries like Laos or Cambodja

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Have you seen the USD lately in relation to the all time inflation hedge - Gold. The USD looks like it will be crashing soon - when it looses any resemblance to an international reserve currency. The USD used to be necessary to settle trades in oil and other international trades - so much so that many countries kept it in reserve just to be able to settle trades. When the USD is no longer needed for such its value will dive - Supply and Demand will take over.

I am going to the Philippines myself. If you like the beach, you should check out Cebu in Visalia (the middle islands). It is the IM capital of the Phil. It may be an international gateway too.

i've thought about this as well, and am interested in belize, panama, or costa rica. pretty cheap to live there. australia (where i live) is getting more and more expensive, and when i retire (which is ages away!), i'd probably have to be a millionaire. i don't want to retire and be poor, although i love my country.

Foreign countries scare me. The laws we're used to here don't always apply and many countries see Americans as easy to rob, including the police in many South American countries like Mexico. There are some very cheap places in the US that you can live that are less than an hour from a major city.

Have you seen the USD lately in relation to the all time inflation hedge - Gold. The USD looks like it will be crashing soon - when it looses any resemblance to an international reserve currency. The USD used to be necessary to settle trades in oil and other international trades - so much so that many countries kept it in reserve just to be able to settle trades. When the USD is no longer needed for such its value will dive - Supply and Demand will take over.

I am going to the Philippines myself. If you like the beach, you should check out Cebu in Visalia (the middle islands). It is the IM capital of the Phil. It may be an international gateway too.

Good luck,
DW

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I know USD is losing its grip, as well as I know how amazingly gold value has been increasing. in fact, im also playing gold, not in personal way, but with a lot of twists (since i have a close friend whose uncle is a high profile staff in one bank that actively playing with gold). And yeah, that can really boost my ROI rate in both short term and long term.

However, the inflation rate is not only because of USD. Even if there's international currency, I doubt that will control inflation rate in some countries here in Asia. My country, Indonesia, for example, we have like 10-15% inflation rate every year because our costs have been increasing as well. Our electricity cost always increase at least 10% every year which will cause domino effect for industries for sure.

Global warming also makes it worse, our farmers can't keep up with the demand which result in imbalance between supply and demand. Well we can control inflation for foods by importing from China but I wonder until when. China itself is a massive country with huge population, they won't keep exporting their fruits and ingredients to us for cheap price.

Talking about China, this country also keep buying our minerals (oil, coal, iron ore, etc.) with amazing price. I'm in mineral brokering business so I know a lot about this. Coal with calorie rate 5500/5300 for example, it was priced at $54 per ton last November and now it's priced at around $65-67. In just half year the price has increased for about 20%. That's crazy. Well not really when they buy millions of ton every single month. China's dominance in low cost stuffs (manufacturing, food competition, etc.) makes the other asian countries grow as well because they buy tons of shits from resource-rich asian countries.

When these businessmen get really rich, they create domino effect by investing in other area of businesses. It also creates inflation. Not to mention there are a lot of super consumtive people in Indonesia, Singapore, etc. I dont know about philippines, i havent been there, but in other SE countries I can see a lot of people don't even save at all and prefer to buy new iphones/ipads/cars just to show off.

When you check their saving accounts, it's all empty. That's why here in my country new gadgets always come with higher price compared to modern countries (iphone 4 might cost you more than $1000, as well as ipad 2, but they still sell like hot cakes). Cars come with 300% tax yet people always prefer to buy cars instead of using public transportation. In jakarta you will always end up in traffic jam considering there are tons of cars there...It's all credit but they don't care. They prefer to use their money for the credits rather than saving for something unexpected or to grow their business...

Of course these consumptive behaviors also create inflation. I've visited Europe and tbh I can see that Europeans save more than Asians. Of course I'm talking based on what I see the most, and I cant say for everyone, because we are all different one to another. For example, I do have money but i prefer to save rather than buying unimportant stuffs. But again, I know a lot of people around me prefer the otherwise. Im not saying a lot of Europeans save their money, I know some of them like to waste their money just to show off as well. But the "show off" mentality here is just worse in overall.

The leading countries in Asia also walking to the same direction. You will notice a lot of people in Shanghai (China) like to waste their money on things that they believe would make them stand out (even if they know they dont make a lot of money). These kind of mentality would definitely increase inflation rate. Few years ago there was stigma about "Americans being super consumptive and dont save at all" but I can see it's actually Asians who are walking to that direction nowadays. Also, because there are a lot of foreigners coming to Asia to invest and such, the local businessmen (such as restaurant owners) always put their price a bit higher to meet up those foreigners' standard when they come to eat there. It creates another inflation. For local people who eat there, they know the price goes up so fast.

In asian countries with massive people (China, india, indonesia for example) you will notice the social gap is quite huge, just like in us or brazil. Of course if you interact with the low class people here, you will find things differently from what I say. But when you interact with middle class, these group of people are the ones that will try their best to "stand out" just so they would be considered as part of the high class group. They don't save, they just waste everything.

All of these might be minor stuffs but combined, they make inflation rate very high. Of course it's still nice to live in Asia because the opportunities are still bigger for small companies and the price (in overall) is still way cheaper.

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